Vine take-off



Patented oct. 3,1922.

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m3 (am Winn Ceann-cnn .Application led November 19, Serial No. 425,@53.

a citizen of the United States, residing` in.

the city vand county ol flan Franciscofand State of California, havel invented a( new' y rerolving drums and useful improvement in 'Vine Taliel'ffs, of whichthe 'following` is a specilieation.

This invention relates to :machines lor picking hops, and particularly to an iniH )roveinent on the structure shown in `niy atent No. 1,054,119, entitled, illiipaijatus for picking hops, issued `lf'ebruary 253,` iol'l.

The object oit the present invention iste provide a machine tor pickingl hops, and especlally to provide means :tor releasing and removing the hop vines when the' hops have been picked therefrom.

The invention consists of the construction, combination and arrange.v ment of parts as hereinafter niore tullyrlescribed and claimed, having reference to thea'cconipanying drawings, in which-f 1 is a side elevation or a hop. picle ing` machine, showing,- the application or the invention.

Fig. 2 is a front View of the vine take Referring" to the drawings in detaihux indicates a suitable traine or supporting structure which in actual practice is ifroin GOto 8O feet in length, about 10 'reet widey and about 18 i'eet high. Iilounted within the traine is` an endless carrier 2, composed of a pair of spaced parallel `sprocket 'chains travelling over `suitable f lireeting` sprockets,

3, land' 5 at onev end,` and large sprocket wheels 6 at the opposite end, it suitable in-` tervals, usually about 12 feet apart, v'the chains are connected by angle bars i provided with appropriate vine gripping de-y vices; these gripping` devices"being` shown as levers 8 pivoted at 9, and havino one end made angular in cross section ro `eooperate with the angle of the bar to grip` the butt Ot a hop vine or stall; 110. n. spring,"

11 `acts onthe offset or handle ond ol'- the gripping lever 8 to `normally open the grasper and the rrasperis held closed upon thestalk lby a sliding-`v collar 12 mounted on thebar 7. j 'i The butt end ci .a vvine is inserted into the grasper and held. therein by, the sliding collar 12 as this collar is forced by the spring in under the handle oi the lever, thereby acting as a wedge to hold the ,gripping end inI tight contactwith the yine as Villustrated in'lligz, 2; The carrier, conl ary plclino' drun the parts and sisting of the sprocket chains 2l and the connecting 7, 'whereby the vine graspers 8 are supported, 'travels through the niachiie with the vines attached thereto as shown in Fig. 2;-the vines passingl between l and 1l, and past auxili- '15, which latter druins are ineunted ou swinging liraines 1G. rThe vines attached to the grasper bars are thus drawirup end first over the upper` set ci revolving drums 123, thence around a revel-sine' eylinderor druin 17 and baci; over thejlcw 'set' ot revolving pickers la, and siniu-itvaneo'usly beneaththe upper set ot revolvingpic-hers llhe drums supporting wire piel are all rotated in a direction opposneto the travel ot the vine pulled between the saine.v 'lhey therefore produce a coinbin,ell action when engagii'ig the Vines and thereby serve the function of engaginfa)A the hops and pulling or releasing the sanie with relation-'to the vines. rlhe hops released by the .lingers on the picking drums tall down between the druins and are deposited on separator belts 18. These belts travel in an upward direction and elevate leaves, pet-als, Steins, etc., while the hops proper roll down the inclined belts and are linally rorno'a-esthe-saine to any convenient point.

ln actual operation the vines are cut as they hang on thev trellis, about e feet troni. thefground, and laid on wagons so that all the butts vpoint in the saine direction to facilitate unloading when delivered to the machines. hen a wagon vreaches the ina chine','two operators are engloyed. 'lhey grasp the butt end ol' `the 'vines and torni afloop on the saine which is hooked over theouter ends of the nrasper bars. The grasper bars are then pulled by the handle sections Si and the collars 12 are iorced inward y by s ing' tension, thus securing t1 deposited on a cornieyor 19, `weich and y ice ' projecting lingers 23, which engage the colmovement of the bars lars l2 as each grasper bar passes by. The arms 20 swing about their pivots on an arc as they follow each grasper bar and they thereby straighten out and consequently push the collars l2 outwardly to a point where the inner tlat surface of the arms 8 is disengaged. Springs 25 new come into action and cause the arms 8 to swing about their pivots to open position. The arms simultaneously move inwardly behind the collars l2 and hold these from forward projection un-y til they are manually released by a pull on the handle sections as previously described.

rIhe automatic opening of the grasping arms.

8 leaves the butt end ot the picked vines free or released and actual experience shows that they generally drop oli". However it happens that some vines adhere to the grasper bars and it is the purpose of the present invention to provide means for knocking them oil so` as to insure complete release or removal of the same. This is accomplished by providing a pair of arms 30. These armsv are pivotally supported as at 31 on bracket bars 32, secured to the main frame. The ends of the arms 30 are extended beyond the pivots and are connected with links 33 and bell cranks 34. The bell cranks are also pivotally mounted on the bracket bars 32 as indicated at 35 and they `are in turn connected by a pair of links 36 and 37 with rocker arms 38. These rocker arms are pivotally attachedto the main frame as at 39 and are adapted to be rocked or depressed by the 7 as they pass over the same. By referringv to Fig. l, it will be seen that the rocker arms 38 normally assume an upwardly inclined position and that whenever a bar 7 passes the same, it rides over :the arms and depresses the same in unison, causing the arms 38 t0 assume the dotted line position indicated at 38a.- The rocking movement thus transmitted to the arms 38 exerts a pull through the links 38 and 39, which rocks the bell cranks 35. These inturn exert a pull on the links 33 and thus transmits a swinging movement to the arms 30 in the direction of arrows a. The swinging movement transmitted to the arms 30 takes place when a bar 7 assumes the position shown in Fig. 2, that` is, a moment after the arms 8 have been released, and as the arms 30 swing forward or together in the direction of the arrows a, it is obvious that they will strike the vines 10 and release and remove the same With-relation to the arms 8. A continued movement of the carriers or the sprockets 2 and the bars 7 carried thereby will cause the bars lto pass over the rocker arms 38 and they will then swing back to normal position due to the action of a pair of weights indicated atLO. These weights are attached to cables guided by pulleys 41 and attached to the outer ends of the arms 30; the pull exerted by the weights 40 being sufficient to restore the several arms and links to normal position where they are in readiness to remove the vines from the next bar that passes.

The entire invention involved in the present instance relates to the' vine take off, or the mechanism which actuates the arms 30; the remaining mechanism, including the arms 20, being all shown and described in my vprevious patent referred to.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire tosecure by Letters Patent isl. A hop picking machine comprising an endless carrier, a hop vine stripping mechanism through which hop vines are drawn by the carrier, grasper bars supported by the carrier, means for securing hop vines to said grasper bars, `and means for automatically and positively removing the vines from the grasper bars when the vines have completed their traverse throughy the stripping mechanism.

2. In a hop picking machine of the character described a main frame, an endless carrier, a series of grasper bars carried by the carrier, vine gripping and securing means on each bar, a pair oi arms pivot-ally supported by the main frame and inthe path of travel of the grasper bars, other means in the path of travel of the grasper bars for releasing the vine gripping means. and means actuated by the grasper bars Jfor imparting a swinging movement to the arms to remove the vines with yrelation to the grasping means.

3. In a hop picking machine of the character described, a main frame, an endless carrier, a series of grasper bars carried by the carrier, vine gripping and securing means on each bar, a pair of arms pivotally supported by the main frame and in the path of travel of the grapser bars, other means in the path of travel of the grasper bars for releasing the vine gripping means, a pair of levers pivotally mounted', one on each side of the main frame and in the path oftravel of the grasper bars, said levers adapted to be engaged and depressed by the grasper bars when they pass over the same, and a connection between said levers and the rst named arms to impart a Vswinging movement thereto, and thereby release the vines from the gripping means.

4. ln a hop picking machine of the character described, a main iframe, an endless carrier therein, grasper bars carried by the carrier, a pair of gripping arms pivotally mounted on each grasper bar 'for securing the vines to be picked, means for tilting each gripping arm to gripping position, other means for looking the gripping arms when in gripping position, means carried by the main frame i'or automatically releasing said locking means to permit opening of the grasping arms, and other means for re moving the vines with relation to the grip ping arms when they have been opened.

5. In a hop picking machine of the character described, a main frame, an endless carrier therein, grasper bars carried by the carrier, a pair of gripping arms pivotally mounted on each grasper bar for securing the vines to be picked, means 'for tilting each gripping arm. to gripping position, other means for locking the gripping arms When 1n gripping position, means carried by the main frame for automatically releasing said locking means to permit opening of the grasping arms, a pair of levers pivotally mounted one on each side of the main frame, said levers adapted to be engaged by the grasper bars and depressed by the same, a second pair of arms pivotally mounted one on each side of the main iframe, and a connection between the levers and said arms for imparting a swingingmovement to the arms when a grasper bar passes by and when vthe gripping arms are open.

In testimony whereof l have hereunto set my hand in the presence of a subscribing Witness.

EMIL CLEMENS HORST,

`Witness T. HALL. 

